Fear, uncertainty and dog doubt

Today’s Courier Mail includes an article in response to the recent death of a child in Whitton, NSW. And while this could have been used as an opportunity to suggest sensible behaviour when interacting with dogs, it is instead a sensationalised piece by someone who is clearly desperately afraid of dogs and keen to inspire a similar level of hysteria in others;

Dog attack: When’s good dogs go bad

YOU should never be complacent around other people’s dogs. They are not always our best friends, despite all the training you cannot predict their behaviour.

… regardless of how responsible the owner, or the breed of dog, it is extremely difficult to determine whether or not a canine friend is a potential risk to others, especially it seems, if the animal is big.

Inevitably the issue of responsibility and where it lay arose. They responded that you wouldn’t allow your child to play with a time bomb in someone else’s house and so it follows you should never be complacent around other people’s dogs.

So there’s the rub. Even responsible dog owners know that regardless of all the training in the world they cannot confidently predict the behaviour of their animals.

While I am not advocating a blanket restriction on dog ownership, it does seem obvious that the size of a dog’s jaw and teeth must directly correspond to the damage inflicted in an attack and that this factor alone should surely influence the choice of breed and size.

There’s no doubt it’s always traumatic for all involved when someone is bitten. But just as someone who is injured in a plane crash doesn’t instantly qualify as an expert on air safety, a person who gets bitten by a strange dog is not transformed into a dog behaviour expert. It’s a huge disservice to the community that this newspaper has presented the emotional feelings of a victim as though she is some sort of authority on the topic, and without the inclusion any factual or scientific information from real dog behaviourists.


Certainly, dogs in society pose a risk. As do cars, electricity, swimming pools, fresh chicken, ladders, and kitchen chemicals. The management of risk is about knowledge and safe decisions – not driving irrational fear.

I guess I’m happy to take responsibility and keep away from large dogs even if it means not visiting some of my family and friends. Oh, and when I’m out on my daily walk and an unleashed four-legged friend leaps enthusiastically in my direction please forgive me if I ignore the owner’s platitude, “It’s OK, he won’t bite” and run.

Avril, if you see me and my large breed please do us both a favour and do what a dog behaviouralist would advise you to do; don’t run.